You’ve Got to Be Kidding: Tyler the Creator Raps Under Alter Ego, Young N—a

Lower the curtains and turn out the lights. It’s over. In a news update that can only be filed under “prostitution of principles” and causes mad head scratching, Tyler the Creator raps under an alter ego which is a derogatory term used to demean and humiliate black people: Young N—a

Worse, this move was signed off on by Tyler the Creator’s major record label, Sony/RED this past year, who signed the social malt liquor artist and his band of cultural misfits, Odd Future, earlier this year.

Here’s how the Odd Future publicist tried to explain this cesspool of a signing away:

“While our original intent was not to sign anyone to the label we simply could not pass up the opportunity to sign somebody this talented. Young N—a embodies the DIY ethic and persona of Odd Future along with a commercial appeal that transcends demographics.”

Wrong. You could have either passed on this or made ole boy change his name to a less inflammatory racial epithet. There is no way Sony could possibly justify taking this on, unless it has total and absolute disregard for the sensibilities of the entire African American race. How could black people reconcile tolerating this and then turn around and demand respect and justice in any form?

This signing is horrible from any angle you view it from. If Young N—- is a bust, then he becomes a burden on the Sony/RED label and the young misguided rapper careens from prospective fame to proponent of illicit underworld activities. If this cat turns out to be as good as advertised and attains any modicum of fame, then what happens when his white fans want to call out to him to get his attention or get an autograph? He is a race war waiting to happen.

Sony and Odd Future need to take inventory of the possibilities before this cultural pyrotechnic blows up in their face. –terry shropshire